Morganator & Co.

By Michael Ashcraft --

The first time Morgan Miles got sent on the field, he was promptly pushed onto his butt.

That didn't happen last night.

Sent on after starter Nile Hosni was off for injury, Morgan grappled with his opposing lineman. He didn't get pushed over.

On kickoff, he smothered an onside kick for his team. "I'm proud of myself," he says.

Lighthouse Christian Academy was outclassed by La Verne Calvary Baptist High School, which quickly deduced LCA's strongest players and double-teamed them to shut down the Saints' offense. LCA lost 8-58 to the Cougars Friday night in Glendora.

As a result of the double-teaming, Lighthouse was forced to (attempt to) diversify its offense. The ball was thrown to Jeremiah Love (he dropped it four times but finally caught it on the fifth), to Exjani Rojas and to Nile, who made his first reception and run.

After he got knocked over, Nile experienced "excruciating" pain in his knee and stayed off for the second half. This forced coaches to use reserve players like Morgan.

Another second string player was Jongho Lee, a Korean student who knows nothing about football. Jongho made a tackle. "Exciting," he said in his limited English. "It was fun."

Coaches gave a restrained rebuke to the team for losing. Apparently, kids have been skipping practice.

"If coaches want this more than you, we're going to have this result always," said Coach Justin Kayne. "If practice is optional and you don't want it, we're always going to get that kind of result. It's gotta come from you guys."

They had to be pleased by the up-and-coming players. "Jeremiah caught a ball and he got popped but he didn't go down," said Asst. Coach Zach Scribner. "I wasn't surprised because we know he's got it in him."

Exjani finally believed in himself, using his soccer speed to catch a running back and execute a tackle.

"Morgan is always excited to get in," Zach said. "This was a good team, a fast team, a lot of athletes."